Autocar 2/5/2018

TAKE THE CARS and stands from the Beijing motor show last week, remove their badges, put them in the Detroit show halls and you’d struggle to tell the difference between the average, everyman Chinese car and its US equivalent. That’s how much progress has been made in the Chinese car industry, a celebration of which we experienced in Beijing. Yes, there is still the odd unwelcome copycat design, but the average Chinese car now bears no relation to the stereotype. They are not necessarily yet suited to European tastes, but that is also true of many US cars. One car in particular stood out at Beijing: the Geely Icon. It’s a close-to-production on-trend concept with a distinctive design of true global appeal. True, it has a head start on most other Chinese…

“The 911’s new structure is claimed to bring greater levels of static stiffness and dynamic rigidity” Porsche is less than six months away from the launch of its fastest and most technologically advanced 911 yet. The new eighth-generation model, which uses the internal codename 992, is set to make its public premiere at the Los Angeles motor show in November before going on sale in the UK early next year in initial rear-wheel-drive Carrera and Carrera S guises. Further new 911 models will follow throughout 2019, including an advanced new four-wheel-drive Turbo, which insiders at Porsche’s Stuttgart headquarters suggest will make as much as 600bhp in range-topping S form, giving it the same output as the limited edition 911 Turbo S Exclusive launched last year. The 20bhp increase in output over the current 911…

If I’m looking for just one area for the 992 to progress, it is in the ease of access to the still unique 911 driving experience. The current car has an abundance of 911 spirit because it still has those three attributes that have always made the 911 unique among its peers: the shortest wheelbase in the class, a flat six engine and its location behind the rear wheels. The problem it is that it’s so focused on providing the ride and refinement owners now demand that you have to push quite hard to find the magic – and in a 911 that means going fast. So I want the new car to feel even more alive at lower effort levels, the way 911s used to. This won’t be easy because…

1963 901 As the successor to the 356, the 911 was popular with enthusiasts from the start. The prototype was unveiled at the Frankfurt show in 1963 as the 901 but was renamed the 911 for its 1964 launch. 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Porsche’s homologation 911 for Group 4 racing proved hugely popular. Just 500 were initially built but they all sold straight away, so Porsche extended the production run to 1580. 1975 930 Turbo Porsche introduced the first turbocharged 911 with a 3.0-litre flat six boosted to produce 260bhp. The car sported a ‘whale tail’ rear spoiler and wider arches to cover its larger tyres. 1987 Carrera Clubsport 3.2 The Carrera Clubsport was a stripped-down, higher-revving 911. Oddly, in spite of Porsche’s meticulous weight-saving regime, the Carrera CS retained electric door mirrors and headlight washers. 1994…

Blume has granted a production green light to a new coupé derivative of the third-generation Cayenne. The new model, conceived to rival the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupé, is intended to broaden the scope of the Cayenne line-up. UK sales are planned to begin during the fourth quarter of next year, according to engineering sources close to the German car maker. First hinted at by Blume in an interview with Autocar last year, the five-door Cayenne coupé will be based heavily on its more practical Cayenne sibling, alongside which it will be assembled at Porsche’s factory in Leipzig, Germany. The new Porsche model receives the same front-end styling as the third-generation Cayenne, albeit with a unique front bumper design. But in a move mirroring that of its key rivals, it adopts a…

Upcoming Mercedes-Maybach models will have “next-level” suspension systems that will be an advanced version of Mercedes’ existing Magic Body Control set-up, according to Maybach chief engineer Jürgen Weissinger. He said one of the key elements is a new camera system, “so we have better information from rough roads so that drivers can slide over the road”. A new drive programme aimed at chauffeurs is also being introduced for the next generation of Maybach models. “We’re making a special drive programme, which means the gearchanges don’t happen too often so that the chauffeur can drive in a very comfortable, luxury way. This works without gearshifts and with maximum torque,” said Weissinger. These features are first expected to appear on the forthcoming Maybach GLS, which is due to be unveiled at the Los Angeles motor…